Bit of a rigmarole by the look of it, exams to do again etc. Much easier to convert the other way Kiwi to Aus. Out of curiosity why do you want the Kiwi license? I would've thought the opportunities/pay etc would be better over your side of the Tasman?

If you need the mountain experience id recommend coming and doing it in NZ......just leave our sheep alone though

I would have thought your sheep would be getting lonely by now, surely the two or three pilots left in NZ can't give all 470 million of them the attention they were used to before you exported all their lovers to Aus.

Cheers Waka, just had a read, does not seem too bad...I read that there are no exams to be sat ? where did you read that? , just that oz pilots had to transition to nz cars obviously, and a flight proficiency check. Im not sure if i can do mountain flying in nz to make the conversion or if i has to be done here...., will have to chase it up.P.S NZ is home for me, I don't like Ozzie sheep.......

Did this a couple of years ago its straight forward just need to have the mountain flying, enough hours for the sling, pay massive amounts of money for a medical, do a fit and proper persons check. The worst was I had to do an English proficiency but you can do that in Australia if haven't got one. There is a couple of other minor things like police clearances and the like which can be time consuming to get done but that's about it. No exams, don't even need a medical immediately. Then you are fully certified to fly overloaded machines without recording all the hours and get payed stuff all. But worth it in the end.

The AFP check covers police and traffic yes.Refer to the TTMRA which clarifies a few NZ/Oz bits and pieces.I returned after 8 years in Oz and had to do a complete new medical despite having a recent current grade one in Oz.The medical all up worked out at about $680NZ. I also had to do a law exam, Provide an Australian federal police and NZ police criminal conviction history check - I'd get on to that asap as it can take anything up to 6 weeks. You will need the fit and proper person application which needs a referee and somebody you've known for a long time to sign (Not sure if they have to be NZ based or not)The English proficiency check has to be done if you haven't got one. If you are going through a flying school then ask if you can use that address until you are settled in.

One thing during this process - I found CAA very easy to deal with which was a pleasant surprise.

All the information listed has been helpful, so thanks for all that posted so far.

Does anyone have any advice for Helicopter flight schools in NZ to undertake the Mountain flying / help with the conversion? Also, is there a requirement to undertake annual flight tests etc to maintain the NZ CPL(H) if you aren't flying there or will it just be a flight test with an employer?

Has anyone done this in the last 12-18 months and have any recommendations for flight schools and or individual instructors to ask for(or more importantly not to) ?

I did mine along with my C cat in May at Wanaka Helicopters.The mountain flying is the best you'll find in this part of the world, You can be landing at 6000ft within 0.3 and 8000ft within 0.4 of the airport.I flew with Simon Spencer Bower who I found to be a great guy to fly with, He will taylor your training to enable you to get the biggest bang for your buck.Wanaka Helis are the only training outfit south of Christchurch I think, They run a 500, AS350, Cabri, R44 and R22s.I found the guys there really helpful and to be a great team.

++TopDogg++ wrote:Has anyone done this conversion lately? Much bulls..t to go through? Wheres a good place in oz to do mountain awareness to meet the nz criteria?CheersTD

Fill out the TTMRA paperwork, pay the fee to the CAA, and as long as you have a sling endorsement and 10 mountain time (with the 5 hours ground theory) all you will need to do on arrival is a BFR flight. Sling and mountain are the only two extra syllabus requirements that need to be acquired, well them and a Min of 150hrs TT for NZ cpl h.

If you currently do not have a Sling rating, then getting it in NZ could possibly be cheeper, as you are not required to do 5 hrs of LL (dual) + the LL flight test before a sling rating can be done.